An Audience with the Queen[Ichigo, Orihime and Zelena only-Private]

Zelena Angelis



When Czaiohme left Zelena relaxed considerably and became more at ease, knowing the woman was gone was a relief to her; especially since she could not return to her hiding spot with her there to see. Zelena would have spoken more in response to Ichigo but then felt all the different reiatsu that had entered Los Noches and had to take note that more had been brought here, however it was not long after their arrival that the chaos broke out.

The thing that caused her most alarm was when water suddenly began flowing from the cell area of the dungeon, when she saw that her eyes grew wide and she quickly slammed her right hand palm flat against the wall; the narrow hall and the amount of water was going to cause a problem for them should they remain much longer there. Instantly the area below her hand began to glow a red color, almost as if she were charging a cero but that was not the case; when the red light cleared there was a panel of buttons in it's place.

Hurriedly she pressed a sequence of buttons on the panel and to the left of both Ichigo and Orihime a door slid open, revealing a secret chamber where Zelena had been staying hidden since her return from Hell. She was about to tell them to hurry into the chamber, but the water never made it past the beginning of the halls, it had seemed someone had stopped it's flow before it could cause the three any harm; her sigh of relief was audible and it echoed throughout the silent halls.

"That was almost horrible...Please, follow me." Zelena told the two yet gave no indication that they all could have almost drowned, well, she would have done something to prevent their demise of course. She walked around the two to stand in front of the newly opened door, taking a glance back at the two with that same soft, inviting smile on her face before she began walking into the dimly lit room; the door remaining open for them to enter behind her and would shut as soon as both entered the room.

Orihime Inoue



Orihime had been about to verbally thank Ichigo for setting her down but then she heard the sound of the rushing water and had gotten into a position to help stop it from reaching them, but the water seemed to have stopped before it could even so much as get their shoes wet, she relaxed and smiled in relief that there was no danger. She also had noticed how worried Zelena had become, displaying genuine concern for their well being; this made Orihime feel like she could actually be trusted after all, despite being the leader of the enemy forces.

When Zelena told them to follow her Orihime nodded her head and stood in front of Ichigo to his left and began following Zelena into the room, however her steps were slow and hesitant, despite having a very mild trust in the Arrancar woman who was leading them; still seeming weary in body language to place a larger amount of trust in Zelena.

Zelena Angelis



The room was decorated in deep crimson and black colors, though dimly lit with soft candle light, it was not hard to miss the decoration of the room; it was decent in size, able to hold the three simply because there was no more in the room than a bed covered in silken crimson red sheets and a small black chair with a high back, looking some what victorian in appearance, however it was all Zelena would have needed during her time down here. The ceiling was moderately high and there for none of them had to worry about bashing their heads in on it, which was fortunate seeing as the male was quite tall.

"Please, have a seat." Zelena offered politely, taking her own in the chair across from the bed, she made sure she was comfortable and that the door was safely closed before she began speaking any further."First off let me apologize for any damage my Espada have caused you, they were supposed to be gentle with their catches but not all of them have that ability." There was that word that would most likely set Ichigo off, making them sound more like pray and less like people with feelings. It was hard to pick the right words, especially since right now her brain was processing other information. However the time for idle chat had long passed, it was time to get down to what she had promised.

"Kurosaki-san, the reason I have asked my Espada to bring you and your friends here is because we need a team to help us take care of something..And you are the only one strong enough to lead it." Of course this was a cover up, but she sounded so convincing it would be hard to tell unless he had already heard something about what the actual truth was behind their capture; she doubted this, but she still had to take into account the possibility of such.

"It seems most of my men resort to rough means off the bat, but in honesty we were afraid that simply asking would not yield the results we were hoping for...We need a team to venture into Hell for us, some of my men and women have tried but it seems they could not do what was needed of them." Zelena explained, when she got to the part about how a previous team had already ventured into Hell she sounded saddened by the fact they had not return..Of course this was a lie, but how could Ichigo tell? As far as he knew she was speaking the truth, at least, unless someone had let information leak.


Orihime Inoue



Orihime took a seat on the bed and listened as Zelena spoke, what was in Hell that the Espada needed? That sounded bad, like they wanted Ichigo to lead a team to recover something evil for them that might help them destroy the world, it definitely made her nervous to hear that they wanted something from such an evil place."But what's there...?" She questioned, unsure how else to react to that information, all she knew was that she was feeling more uncomfortable than she had been a few minutes ago and that whatever it was they were planning just couldn't be good.

Zelena Angelis



Hearing about what Lance had done seemed to visibly upset Zelena, though she knew how the Primera handled things like this, it still seemed like an over kill for the simple task of bringing someone to Las Noches."That was not in his orders nor necessary for completing his mission...I cannot do more than offer an apology for his slaughter, but I know that is meaningless to you.." What could she do? She could not reverse time and change past events, her words were the only thing she could offer for something like that, however she did make it a mental note to speak with Lance once things were all said and done; the anger he had showed did not surprise her one bit, but she did notice how shaken the girl was.

"If they refuse then we'll have no choice but to let them go home, I do not plan on keeping anyone here if they do not wish to take part; the girl is here for healing measures, no one in Hueco Mundo has the abilities strong enough to mend the wounded who will most likely come out of Hell, rest assured Kurosaki-san, she will not go into Hell; I know better than to think she could survive down there." Zelena replied calmly, even in the face of such anger, she did not flinch once; almost as if she had expected his outbursts. As for Orihime not going into Hell, she already could tell that the girl would likely not survive long enough for what was to happen, there for there truly was no point in sending her down there and would waste time.

Now that she had finished replying to Ichigo Zelena's eyes shifted to the girl next to him, what was there? She could come up with some sob story, perhaps tug on their heart strings a little, but there was a better idea which came to mind."I'm sure you must know by now that the Hell Beings or, Togabito, are running rampant all over the Human World. They were set free by the man who took my throne from me, by a way that I am unsure of...However, a Togabito who was captured, on request from my army, has told me something very interesting.." She paused to let her words sink in, the only way she could think of that might have a chance at getting him to agree to venture into Hell was to make it seem like they were fighting a common enemy."She had told me that there is a way to fix what he had done, there is something down there that can stop them..And these beings, called Sins, and stop whatever it is they are planning." With her explanation finished the room fell silent, would the lie work? Now a lie was not quite accurate, she had been told of something in Hell that piqued her interests and made her what she is today, and the one who had told her was one of the Sins herself. She mentioned nothing in specific, however she was prepared to answer the question she knew had been coming.

"Did you not want to heal your friend?" Zelena asked, she saw the girl nod and stand up to face the young man, watching as the girl worked her magic and began healing Ichigo's wounded body; the method she used was interesting to watch, like watching a video tape rewind, it was obvious she was impressed with how well it worked.

Orihime Inoue



She felt the bed shake from the force Ichigo had used to assault the bed and it shook her, her eyes grew wide and she gasped as she swore she felt the bed crack a little bit from the strength in his punch. Maybe he was unaware of how much power he put into that attack, but she felt it's ripple through the wooden frame. When he calmed down she relaxed too, it wasn't like she could not understand why he was so upset, but that deep anger had visibly shaken the young girl up; perhaps her reaction to his anger stemmed from something that happened in her past, something she either could not remember or chose not to, an instinct to flinch in the face of anger which had been burned into her very soul.

She had been about to ask Zelena another question, but then she was reminded that one of the reasons they were, well, wherever they were, was so that she could tend to Ichigo's wounds."Right.." Orihime replied with a nod, she stood from the bed and got into a position before she began her Sōten Kisshun technique and surrounded Ichigo with an orange like bubble, and began healing his wounds.

Zelena Angelis



"I was told that it would be known when seen and that it is somewhere towards the last level, unfortunately I was unable to get any more information from the vile creature, as it stood the interrogation almost killed her...But sometimes one must use force to get the information they need, if you need to know the girl is still alive and recovered since, however she seems to have escaped so I cannot go question her further." Zelena explained, but she knew she would be loosing him soon if she did not produce more information that would lull him into agreeing to go, so the room fell silent for a moment as she thought but to them it could seem as if she was letting the information sink in. As soon as she picked an idea that might work, she spoke once more.

"We've been having trouble with those things for as long as they have been allowed to prance freely, we've had a few try to take out our entire army and take over Las Noches; now obviously we have defeated them every time, but we fear that we may encounter one that we won't be able to stop..." She paused, though her voice was collected there was an undertone that sounded like she was genuinely afraid of a take over happening."I know you might not care what happens to us, given the fact that we have done so many horrible things to you and your friends, but I can assure you that if a take over happened, at the hands of one of those monsters, your world would be far worse off..." Perhaps playing on the fear that the Espada were the lesser of the evils might work, hoping that utilizing the fear she hopefully instilled in these two would be the thing that seals the deal and gets her what she wanted. She looked serious and distraught as she looked over at them with what appeared to be desperation in her eyes, wondering just how he would react to this falsified information she had just given him.

Orihime Inoue



Orihime was silent throughout the conversation between Ichigo and Zelena, focusing on finishing her task of healing her friend, which wasn't taking as long as one might have figured given the extent of his wounds; she decided to keep the healing up for just a little while longer as a precaution, just to make sure that he was fully healed. She listened as Zelena went on about how the Togabito could take over and make things worse for everyone, it didn't make sense why they would want to over throw Las Noches, but maybe Zelena didn't have any idea why either."This is bad..." She muttered disheartedly, in worry over what might happen if something like that took place; she had no idea if what she was hearing was true or not, but she also could not think of a reason why the Espada Queen would lie about something like that, especially since she herself sounded concerned.

Orihime Inoue



Orihime sat in deep thought after she was asked her own opinion, all the while finishing the last touches of healing Ichigo's wounds, most of which were gone now, but there were a couple minor ones that remained but those closed up rather quickly. She felt bad about the situation the Arrancar seemed to be in, yet at the same time there was a part of her that couldn't help but doubt what the other woman was telling them; still there was something in the Queen's words that made her want to believe it, something in her tone that called to the sympathetic nature of the girl and made it impossible to deny the other's request.

"I think we should help them..." She answered after what seemed like forever in silence, the barrier around Ichigo faded away with the last of his wounds, the fairies responsible returned to the sealed form of the flower hairpins she now wears in the left breast pocket of her high school uniform. Her hands rested on her lap as she waited for anyone else to speak.

Zelena Angelis



Zelena was getting ready to speak, but the sound of massive explosions and the presence of other Arrancar cut her off, it sounded as though there was a battle to the death beyond the confines of her small hide out; she could sense the usage of a Gran Ray Cero and that was the absolute last straw."Kurosaki-san, Inoue-san, you two need to stay here for now; there is something I must go do before it gets anymore out of hand and it is not safe for you two to venture outside of this room." Before anyone could say a word to her she had rose from her seat and swiftly moved from there to the door, she placed her hand in a select section of the wall by the doorway and soon the door opened."Please be patient, I will come back for you when it is safe." With that she shunpoed out of the room, the door falling shut behind her; the room was special built so that no one could enter nor leave without Zelena's invite, which meant that the two would be held up in the room with a slim chance to escape.

Speeding down the hall, there was such haste in her step that was possibly not needed, but she wished not to keep her Master waiting. She had ventured once before to the hiding place of which the Queen spoke, so when she noticed it she stopped immediately in front of it and sought out the panel that would grant her access to the room. When she spotted it she placed her hand upon the square which was out of place only if one looked hard enough, and then they had to be close to it to see the difference anyhow. The door slid open and Maya stood in the doorway, looking at the two with a straight, stoic expression.

"My name is Maya De La Mora, I am the Queen's personal assistant, she has sent me to fetch you; please come with me." A simple, brief, to the point statement which carried no threat; the tone was straight as could be and she appeared as nonthreatening as she could, a slow blink as she watched the two with steady eyes, waiting for them to comply.

Orihime had given a blink in confusion and was going to ask what exactly was the matter, but she realized that there had been fighting and assumed that was what the Queen was going to stop, for the entire time they had been alone in the room it had been oddly silent, almost uncomfortable, but before Orihime could say anything to break that silence someone had come in.

"My name is Maya De La Mora, I am the Queen's personal assistant, she has sent me to fetch you; please come with me."

"Umm..." She was obviously confused, Zelena was supposed to come back and get them, right? Maybe she got held up and sent this new face instead, either way Orihime did not question it. She stood from the bed and nodded, the girl seemed okay, she wasn't ready to attack them, so she put a little trust in the other woman. A brief glance to Ichigo before her big brown eyes fell back upon Maya."Alright.." She replied, albeit hesitantly, ready to follow Maya to wherever she would lead them.

With a simple nod Maya turned around, with her back to the other two she allowed her eyebrow to twitch just slightly, a tick that she developed from her habit and a sign that she needed a fix. She reached into the pocket of her hakama and pulled out a small box, the box was a brightly colored pink with splash text kanji printed on it. It was a box of gummy candies, something she kept with her for a quick fix until she could indulge herself in her sweet tooth further. She shot a glare over her shoulder, a possessive look in her eyes, as if she were warning them with her looks.

"Mine, don't even think of asking." Her tone was a bit harsh and the look in her eyes was slightly threatening, but once she finished speaking she returned to her normal blank expression and relaxed demeanor, her eyes returned to the path ahead of her and she began leading the two back to the dungeon from whence they came. Emptying a handful of the gummies into her left hand, she tossed them into her mouth as they walked, a satisfied look crossed her face when she felt the rush of the juice from the treat rush down her throat.

Orihime's eyes widened slightly when she noticed the brightly colored box of candy and she was going to comment on it, in a friendly manner of course, until the woman snapped at them for a question they didn't even ask yet. The sudden change made her eyes widen more and she became tense, but then relaxed when the woman went back to normal a moment later, it was confusing but she decided to not question it."Alright..." A simple reply, after which she began to follow the other woman out of the room in a steady pace.